


Five Hundred Miles Away from that Speed Trap Town

by Devilc



Category: Friday Night Lights
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Devilc/pseuds/Devilc
Summary: Buddy gives him hours at his bar, but part time barbacking only goes so far to make ends meet.  Buddy keeps promising that they'll increase when business picks up, but nothing that Tim sees makes him think that's going to happen any time soon.
Relationships: Tim Riggins/Julie Taylor
Comments: 18
Kudos: 53
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Five Hundred Miles Away from that Speed Trap Town

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MissMeggie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMeggie/gifts).



> The Prompt Was:
> 
> _I'm a super hardcore Tim/Julie shipper but since she isn't offered I'd really like something introspective about his life post-prison or just his childhood that was never explored._  
>  _Tim visiting Jason in NJ and realizing he wants the life Jason has, wife kids, picket fence but has no idea how to find it._  
>  _What if Billy did the right thing and took the fall for the chop shop what does Tim's life look like unmessed up?_  
>  _A story loosely based on Speed Trap Town by Jason Isbell_
> 
> I ticked a few items on this list ... I hope it makes you smile.

Buddy gives him hours at his bar, but part time barbacking only goes so far to make ends meet. Buddy keeps promising that they'll increase when business picks up, but nothing that Tim sees makes him think that's going to happen any time soon.

His PO provides him with a list of businesses that hire felons, but no way are any of the auto parts stores, dealerships, or quick oil change places going to hire a guy like him — everybody in Dillon and the surrounding counties know why he went down. He applies anyway. Goodwill is the only place that calls him in for an interview. They start him at minimum wage for 19 hours a week. 

But … Tim's job ends when the day is done, and it keeps him free for evenings and weekends at Buddy's and there's something to be said about working there. He keeps his head down and hits his quotas … and he's actually kind of good working with the mentally handicapped. He's patient, but doesn't cut a bully any slack. He takes joy in their hard won victories. "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose" gets repeated by more than one employee when they finally master a new skill that Tim's worked to teach them. More than one tells him he's the best big brother they ever had. 

And … at least it's not fucking Wal-Mart. Now _there_ is a completely shitty place to work. They promoted Mindy into a full time position and regularly get 60 hours a week out of her all for a whopping $32,000. But it's full time, and it's got (crappy) benefits, and that's what they need, because Billy, god bless him, still can't keep any job he gets, aside from his part time job with the football team. Because Billy still hasn't learned to embrace the suck and shut the fuck up. Billy's even asked him about the possibility of getting work at Buddy's, but Tim shuts that one down immediately. "They can barely afford to keep me on, what makes you think there's room for you?" 

Frankly, if Billy did get a full time job, the daycare costs for their 2 kids would pretty much eat up any check that came in.

"Why don't you just be a dad, Billy?" Tim asks one summer evening as the "shorts" (as he calls them) go toddling through the grass. "You're actually good at that."

"I am?" Billy replies, a look of surprise on his face before his brain catches up and his expression hardens. "Man's got to provide for his family, Tim." He scratches idly at the scruff of beard on his jaw.

Tim takes a long guzzle off his beer, and gestures with the bottle as he speaks, "Yeah, and you can provide them with a good home to be in and the house all picked up for Mindy when she gets home from Wal-Mart." 

Billy shoots him a surly look, but raises his eyebrow after a moment.

Tim takes that as a hint to continue, "You won't have to pay for day care and you can bring your kids up the way you like, and then you can get a full time job in a few years when they're both in grade school." He pauses and adds for dramatic effect, "They're only little once, Billy."

Billy drains the rest of his beer and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "I just … I don't want Mindy to think I'm a mooch. I don't want the kids to think —"

"They'll think they've got a great dad who's there for them." _The way ours wasn't_ goes unsaid.

The silence stretches out between them, and the crickets take to chirping before Billy belches softly and says, "I'll fly it by Mindy, but I'm not giving up coaching."

"Not unless they fire you." Tim can't resist the dig, and at that point, the shorts come running over as fast as their little legs will take them. They caught a grasshopper and they think it's the best thing ever.

++++++

"Six, is there a good time for me to come out and see you?" Once upon a time there would never have been a need to ask that question, because any time was the time to go and see Jason.

(Except for _that_ time, when just the thought of going to the hospital -- of what had happened -- was enough to make it feel like a knife had been driven into his heart. And then he twisted that blade back and forth by watching _The Hit_ over and over and over again.)

"Tim? What's going on?" Jason replies.

"Nothing big, Six, just … sick of this speed trap town and I haven't seen you in …." _too long now_ "and well, you have a family and I know how that is from seeing Billy and Mindy."

Jason laughs and Tim's heart lifts as he hears the smile in Jason's voice. "I can't think of anything special that's going on, but let me check. Any time in particular?"

"Towards the end of next month. Gotta give work notice that I need time off." _But I won't have to say jack and shit to my PO, because I get done with that at the start of next month._

"Anything you want to do, _besides just hang and have a few beers_?"

Toss a football with Noah and play airplane with his little sister. Have a good laugh. Be away from people who have made up their minds about me. _See you_. "You're the local there now -- you pick. I mean, I don't have this crazy need to go back to New York. Once was plenty. And you work there so …."

Jason laughs again. "How long you think you'll stay?"

 _Not long enough._ "I'm thinking a long weekend. Like, get in late Thursday and leave Monday morning."

"If you get an extra day or two, you can go see Coach -- he's not that far."

Tim feels a lopsided smile crawl across his face. "Not sure if he wants to see a guy like me."

Jason sighs. After an uncomfortably long pause, he says, "He wants to see a guy like you, Tim. He always wants to see a guy like you." Then, with a forced brightness in his voice, he continues, "Anyhow, I'll look at my calendar and get back to you."

++++++

Tim's always felt like a bit of a third wheel where Erin's concerned, and that's the thing that worries him the most as he crosses the miles out to Jersey in his old truck.

Erin's surprisingly glad to see him -- turns out she's been after Jason to take some time off -- and if Tim's the reason Jason's _finally_ doing it, well … you play the cards life deals you, right?

++++++

It's a windy day and the sand scratches his chapped skin and he's been in and out of the ocean with Jason a few times (not quite as warm as the gulf, but warm enough still) and he's playing catch with Noah and his little sister, Jessica, while Erin towels Jason off and begins to gather their things. Skeeter has run himself legless and has curled up at Jason's feet.

He doesn't know how long it's been, but Tim knows he's felt happier today than he has in a long time. 

Tomorrow they're going to Cold Spring Village, and for a rambunctious kid, Noah's got a thing for colonial history and really, really, _really_ wants a tricorn hat.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tim sees Jason steal a quick kiss from Erin.

He's happy for Six. Happy that he's doing so well and he's found a wonderful wife, and that he has a job that he's really good at and really likes. If anybody deserves to live the dream, it's him.

Tim just wishes he knew how to get some of that for himself.

++++++

Tim doesn't know if he wants to laugh or cry about the fact that his truck dies just as he pulls up in front of Coach and Tami's house. On the one hand, this old bucket of bolts got him to his destination, and didn't die in the middle of the expressway. On the other hand? **_REALLY?!_** … not that replacing a connecting rod bearing was going to be quick and cheap, but from experience he figures he could squeak another few miles out if he put the hazard lights on and limped it along under 2000 RPM. He literally had his hand on the key to shut the engine off in front of Coach's house when the oil pressure hit zero and WHAA-BAMN! Followed by the horrible clanking grinding noises of an engine self destructing.

The noise brings Coach dashing out of the house and sets Skeeter to barking his fool head off.

"That doesn't look very fixable, son," Coach says, his brow furrowed in thought as he watches oil pour out from underneath the engine compartment.

"No, it's not," Tim says, his voice on the edge of a laugh he can't quite control, but he swallows hard, gathers himself, and says, "Do you have some cat litter or some old blankets and a big pan? You don't want a huge oil slick in front of your house for the next few months."

"Not good for the sewers, either," Coach says as he waives his arm for Tim to follow him into the house.

++++++

Gracie Belle adores Skeeter, and Tim smiles as he watches them romp in the front yard while he sells the truck to a wrecker for $250. At least he's got enough for a Greyhound bus to get him and Skeeter home. 

Beyond that, though? He's pretty fucked. He doesn't have enough saved for any kind of a vehicle. Keeping his little piece of Texas sees to that.

++++++

Julie shows up that evening. She'd taken a day trip to the Poconos just to see them. Tim will get to keep his $250 (minus a little gas money) because she is going through Texas on her way back home, which is Santa Fe these days. She works in media and marketing for an artist collective called, get this, Meow Wolf. Her hair's just about every color of the rainbow, and she's got a tiny diamond stud in her nose.

And … she's Jules, but not Jules anymore and Tim can't quite put his finger on it until they're both romping with Gracie Belle. She's grown into herself. She's her own woman. Not that she didn't have confidence (and even some moxie) when they were in high school, but she's not trying to live up to her parents' expectations the way she did in high school.

(And here he is, a part of him still trying to live up to Coach's expectations, Tami's too. And maybe a part of him always will be trying.)

They end up splitting a six pack of Rolling Rock and watching about half of Punisher Season 2 on Netflix after everybody else has gone to bed. And they like completely different things about it -- though Tim is pleased with himself that he manages to pick up on some of the symbolism. She doesn't come off like an artsy fartsy snob, and he doesn't feel like a goober from hickistan when they talk. They both love Agent Madani.

++++++

They're crossing over the Mississippi late in the afternoon, going from Memphis into Arkansas, and Jules has spent the last two hours prying the details of his life out of him (and there is no way to talk that shit up and make it anything other than what it is) when she says, "You should go back to school, Tim."

He feels his mouth open and shut several times before he says, "Wh-wh-what?" Stammering like Saracen did, back in the day.

"I'm serious. Ask your PO how. Make them work for you."

"Like it's just that easy." He says, an edge in his voice. "And I'm done with my parole."

"I didn't say it was easy. I just said it's something you should do. Because, you know, your life …." Her voice trails off, but a moment later she says,"It's one thing to choose to live in Dillon. A lot of people do. It's another thing to be _stuck_ in Dillon. And you are this close," she holds her fingers a smidgen apart "to being stuck." 

They sit in prickly silence until they're over the river when she picks back up, "Think about what you like to do. What are you good at?"

Tim's had enough of this "Drinking beer and fucking." And he feels shitty the moment the words leave his mouth.

She doesn't skip a beat. "Tell me something I don't already know."

So he does as the sun sinks low in the sky and they make their way over the farmlands and pastures of eastern Arkansas and by the time the sun's setting over the edge of the Ozarks off in the distance, she says, "So, you like working with kids, you loved playing football, and you like fixing engines. There's lots of things you can do there. Pick one and try it."

She smiles at him and there's no pity in it, no condescension, no "eat your peas" -- just optimism of a kind that Tim hasn't been around in ages.

++++++

They crash out in a Super 8 in a town called Hope and sneak Skeeter into the room.

Tim sleeps like shit.

Somewhere along the way this trip, he stopped thinking of Julie like his sister … and he's not quite sure what to do about that.

++++++

She drops him in Dillon with a hug that lasts just a second too long to be friendly, but it's not awkward. She reaches up and ruffles his hair before they part. "I'm going to call you at least once a week, more if I think you need the foot to ass."

 _I'd like that._ he wants to say, but his tongue gets stuck to the roof of his mouth and all he can do is smile and croak out, "Yes."

++++++

Selling his land is the hardest thing he's ever done. Harder in a way, than taking the rap for Billy. It feels like he's letting go of a dream. He worked so fucking hard for that land. Knowing that it was there, waiting for him, got him through a lot of days in prison.

"Yeah, but," Julie says, her voice a little tinny over the phone, "it's a boat anchor dragging you down at the moment. And, you're just letting it go so you can pursue your new dream."

Tim thinks about that and realizes that there's nothing here in Dillon that he can't leave behind. The things he wants most aren't coming back, and he's been clinging to their ghosts.

He whispers the words "my new dream" under his breath as he signs the paperwork and takes the check. Then he deposits the money, hitches the trailer to his new-old truck so that he can go off to Midland College and become Tim Riggins, Aviation Maintenance student.

++++++

Julie's there when he graduates with an AAS in Aviation Maintenance. He invited her not entirely expecting her to come, but seeing her makes him just as happy as seeing Billy and Mindy and the shorts (who are getting a little less short every day). He thought about just getting the certificate -- it's what he really needs to get a job -- but it only took one more semester to get the AAS and he figured if he was going to college, he should get an actual degree.

Billy legit happy cries over Tim being "The first Riggins to get a college degree." 

"Blame Jules, she talked me into it." 

Billy and Mindy flash a smile at Julie, but then Billy continues, "You started something and you finished it. And that's …" Billy fishes for the words, "something. Something big. Gives the kids something to look up to."

"They got you and Mindy, Billy," Tim replies, hugging him tight again, and whispers in his ear, "Good parents count for a lot." Then he steps back and says, "Maybe you'll be next, Billy."

He's joking, but he can see the wheels spinning in Mindy's eyes.

++++++

Tim casts the net in a 500 mile radius. 

The place that calls him back with an offer is in Santa Fe. It's part-time, but it gets his foot in the door. He calls Julie and tells her the news before he calls Billy. 

Who knows, that Meow Wolf place had some really cool scrap metal sculptures -- he might be able to pick up some basic welding/nuts and bolts work on the side helping artists get that stuff put together.

++++++

Julie makes the first move.

He's wanted to. For about a month now, but he had no idea how to do this and not turn it into a complete FUBAR.

He meets her for an after hours Holiday party at Meow Wolf's House of Eternal Return, and there, in a room of a house gone terribly wrong, she pushes him down on a couch and kisses him.

"What are you thinking?" She asks, low and throaty, a voice that just goes straight to his dick. He takes so long to answer, that she laughs and says, "I can hear the wheels spinning in your head."

He dusts a few feather light kisses across her forehead and finally finds the words, "So, a part of me is always going to be a Texas Forever kind of guy, but I'm finding that there's a lot to like here in the Land of Enchantment."

"So … maybe Enchantment Forever?" Her eyes sparkle.

He nods and says, "Yeah, Enchantment Forever," before pulling her in for another kiss.

"Get a room, you two" a voice says as one of her co-workers barges tipsily into the room, "But not, like, in this house."

Julie stands up and holds out her hand, "One room coming right up?"

He takes it, "Absolutely."

A smile curves her full lips. "Enchantment Forever?"

He nods. "Enchantment Forever, or at least until you come to your senses."

She ruffles his hair. "That might never happen, Tim. Enchantment and all that."

It occurs to Tim as she leads him out of that crazy house (and that takes some doing because it is CRAZY and they get lost more than once) that this is nothing like the future he once dreamed for himself. But as Julie laughs and winks at him as they clamber through an upholstery forest, he thinks this future might be even better.


End file.
